


Obliviate, Relocate

by Yatorihell



Series: In The Darkness [72]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, ノラガミ | Noragami (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:01:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29721783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yatorihell/pseuds/Yatorihell
Summary: Yato, Hiyori, and Yukine leave home to begin their quest.
Relationships: Bishamonten | Vaisravana/Kazuma, Iki Hiyori/Yato, Kofuku Binbougami/Daikoku
Series: In The Darkness [72]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/547369
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Obliviate, Relocate

Hiyori took one last look around her room.

Her suitcase was packed with the few possessions she didn’t want to lose. The stuffed bears from her childhood were arranged neatly on her bed, and the posters on her wall were beginning to peel from age. She wondered what would become of them and her childhood bedroom when she was gone.

 _This is necessary_ , Hiyori told herself, but it still didn’t stop the tear from slipping down her face.

Hiyori quietly made her way downstairs, her suitcase heavy in her hand as she stopped by the front door. Just around the corner, she could see her parents sat in the dining room. Her father was obscured by a newspaper, and her mother had her back to her.

She wanted to do this the right way: to say goodbye, to say that she loved them and that she would be back one day, but she couldn’t.

 _This_ was the right way.

Hiyori raised her wand. In a ghost of a whisper, she spoke. “ _Obliviate_.”

The framed pictures in the hallway and stairs faded, erasing her from the family holidays, school picture days, and her fifth birthday where she wore that silly party hat. Her prom photo, the picture of her brother Masaomi holding her for the first time as a baby, and the Hogwarts uniform that her parents told their friends was a Halloween costume, all faded to blank backgrounds.

Her parents never turned to her or wondered why the front door clicked shut, but Hiyori knew it was because they no longer had reason to believe they had a daughter. Hiyori knew that she was nothing but a phantom.

Hiyori Iki never existed. Not in this house.

Yato was waiting for her in the underpass where they had been attacked by Dementors only a few years ago. The white paint was now covered in a multitude of graffiti and tags, and a few of the neon lights had been busted. He turned his head when he heard footsteps accompanied by the roll of wheels on concrete. Hiyori emerged at the end of the tunnel and Yato turned to face her, face solemn.

“Is it done?” Yato asked softly. He pretended not to notice the redness of her eyes when she avoided his gaze, coming to a stop only a few feet away.

Hiyori nodded and wiped her eyes. “They won’t remember anything about me. I put an enchantment on the door handle so my brother will forget me too once he comes home. Hopefully the idea of moving away will sink in by tonight.”

There was a ripple of silence between them. She had done this to protect her family, to get them as far away from her and the Sorcerer, but Yato still felt at fault. If she never met him, she wouldn’t be in this situation.

“You can always reverse it,” Yato said slowly. “You can go home-.”

Hiyori shook her head vigorously and sniffed again. Yato quietened, giving her the space to think.

She let out a deep, shuddering breath and finally met Yato’s eyes. “We told you, _‘together, or not at_ …'”

Hiyori’s resolve fell apart and she buried her face in her hands. Yato closed the distance between them in two strides, pulling her into his arms. She choked out apologies, but the tears wouldn’t stop, and the crack in her voice only made him hug her tighter. His body enveloped hers in a supportive embrace, dwarfing her as she shrunk into him and secured her arms around his back. He knew he wouldn’t be the first to let go.

Footsteps came from the tunnel entrance behind Hiyori. Yato dropped a hand to the suitcase and held Hiyori closer. The world disappeared in a blur as they apparated away from the life she had traded for him.

~

Yato took one final look around his bedroom at Yukine’s, which he’d called home for five years now, and sighed. Downstairs he could hear the first arrivals coming and the clatter of a trunk being heaved downstairs. The Order of the Phoenix was here to escort them out of the house, and Yato couldn’t help but feel he was losing the life he built piece by piece.

His eyes fell on his bedside table. The only objects on it now were Sakura’s wand, enclosed in its case for safekeeping, and the two-way mirror. He picked up the mirror and ran his finger along the silver gilded edge. He’d hoped that somehow Sakura still had the other piece and that she would talk to him from the afterlife, but it never happened. He’d spent too long staring into that mirror imagining her face and willing her to tell him how to defeat the Sorcerer. It had become his own personal Mirror of Erised.

Yato wrapped the mirror in a t-shirt and stowed it away in his suitcase along with Sakura’s wand and clicked it shut. He dragged his suitcase down the stairs and walked through to the dining room. Yukine was stood with a trunk half his size, Hiyori’s suitcase, and Madame Kofuku. Madame Kofuku smiled as Yato entered.

“Hello, Yato,” Madame Kofuku said. Her eyes darted from the suitcase and back to his face. “Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Yato grunted and swung his arm, landing the suitcase within inches of Yukine’s foot.

They stepped back and Madame Kofuku waved her wand with a silent incantation. In a blink the suitcases had vanished, leaving an empty spot on the carpet. Madame Kofuku turned and put her wand back in her pocket.

“They’ll be waiting for you at the Burrow,” Madame Kofuku smiled at them.

Yato had puzzled over what ‘the Burrow’ meant, as he was under the impression that they were going to Madame Kofuku’s and Daikoku’s house a few days early for the wedding. It didn’t seem to faze anyone but himself as Yukine led them across the hall and into the front room.

They hadn’t seen so many people packed inside the house since… since ever.

Hiyori stood with Daikoku, Kazuma, Bishamon, and an assorted mix of the remaining Order which made up their entourage. Madame Kofuku had told them that she had been recruiting new members since Professor Tenjin’s death, but they didn’t expect so many of them to be their teachers; Professor Tsuyu, Professor Takemikazuchi, even groundskeeper Kuraha, were among the new faces stood in the living room.

Madame Kofuku took her place beside Daikoku, and the squeeze she gave his hand seemed to be his cue. Daikoku cleared his throat and the room quietened, all eyes on him and Madame Kofuku at the head of the room.

“We don’t have much time, so listen carefully. We expect the Sorcerer will be coming to Yato’s known addresses, so we’ll be getting out of here and to the Burrow before that happens.”

Yato shifted at the mention of his name. He knew he was the reason they had come here, but to have all eyes of the Order on him now was uncomfortable when they knew he was the one who could defeat the Sorcerer.

“We will have to use transport like brooms, Thestrals, and the like,” Daikoku continued. “We’ll go in pairs, so if anyone is out there waiting for us, they won’t know which of us is the real Yato.”

 _The real Yato?_ Yato thought. His eyes caught on Madame Kofuku as she pulled a large vial of green liquid out of her pocket. He knew instantly it was Polyjuice Potion.

“No,” Yato stated, shaking his head. “I won’t let you risk your lives for me.”

“Never done that before, have we?” Daikoku replied dryly.

Yato struggled, feeling the eyes of the room on him, before giving an exasperated sigh. “This is different.”

“Everyone is of age here. They’ve agreed to this.” Madame Kofuku said shortly.

Daikoku gave a nod and, on cue, Yukine tugged on Yato’s hair. Yato yelped and swore, seeing a few strands in Yukine’s hand as he crossed the room. Madame Kofuku popped the cork and Yukine dropped them into the vial. The potion fizzed gently.

Madame Kofuku took a sip of the potion and grimaced before passing it to Hiyori, who passed it to Kazuma, who passed it to the remaining few who had agreed to this.

It seemed there was no room for arguments now.

Bodies stretched and shrank. Hair grew longer and shorter and changed shades. Voices deepened and a mixture of his own voice ricocheted back at him.

All around him were different versions of himself, dressed in oversized robes – Professors Tsuyu and Takemikazuchi – and feminine clothing – Madame Kofuku and Hiyori. Yato looked on, agape, as a bag of clothes was dropped to the floor and the Yatos began sifting through them and left to get changed. One Yato plucked his glasses off his face and squinted, realising that he could see clearly without them for the first time in his life.

When they came back, he couldn’t tell who was who unless he looked at their body language. The awkward Yato who avoided his gaze and wrapped his arms around himself must have been Hiyori, and he couldn’t help but feel guilty that she agreed to this.

“We’ll be pairing off,” Daikoku said. “Each Yato will have a protector.”

Daikoku paired off the Order members first, unfamiliar faces that left two by two until he reached the teachers. He gestured to a Yato and Kuraha. "Tsuyu and Kuraha, brooms.”

Professor Takemikazuchi and a Yato, who Daikoku hesitated to kiss on the forehead, were next to leave. He directed the next Yato – who was clearly Kazuma as his glasses were tucked in his pocket – to pair with Bishamon. “Thestral.”

“Yukine, Hiyori, brooms,” Daikoku said. His eyes fell on the real Yato. “And you’re with me.”

Yato blinked at Daikoku. He looked over at Hiyori, his mirror image, and began to argue. “No, I’m going with Hiyori -.”

“There’s two of you. You will fly separately.” Daikoku interrupted, silencing Yato’s protest.

Yato looked away, feeling a burn creeping to his cheeks as his friends watched him get scolded. After a moment Daikoku spoke again, in a calmer voice.

“If anyone followed us, they would assume you would be with Hiyori, which is why she agreed to take the potion. Your Father knows you two have an…” He paused, looking for a platonic phrase. “Attachment to one another.”

Yato’s eyes flickered to Hiyori, who looked at him in a somewhat defeated way. He had a point.

Hiyori and Yukine gave him half-smiles as they too filtered out of the living room and outside. Yato made to follow but Daikoku clapped a hand on his shoulder and looked down at him.

“Your job is to get there in one piece. If any of us fall, you cannot stop.”

Yato looked at Daikoku, his normally strict eyes showing a more caring nature, one that understood his worry. If anything, he was acting the way a parent would console their child. Yato gave him a determined nod.

They joined the others outside. Kazuma and Bishamon were already atop a Thestral and the rest of the Order summoned their brooms into their hands. Daikoku’s broom was old but solid and big enough for two people.

Yato swung his leg over and sat behind Daikoku, his hands digging into his shoulders. He hadn’t flown like this before – except for the time he took Hiyori up to the Astronomy – but he was the one in control then. Now he could see how precarious this position was – no stirrups, no handgrip, just a seat and a body to hold onto.

“We’ll meet at the Burrow in about an hour!” Daikoku called, looking around the worried and determined faces around him. He pulled a pair of aviator goggles from his coat and snapped them on his head. He shifted his grip on the broom. “On the count of three. One… two… three!”

They were rising in the air far too quickly than Yato would’ve liked. His eyes watered in the wind and his hair whipped around his face. Beside them he could feel the strong beat of the Thestrals wings soaring higher and higher. Only now did Yato look down on Yukine’s house, watching it disappear in the twinkling lights of the village below, and the next and the next until they were above the clouds.

And then, out of nothing, they were surrounded. Hooded figures, too many to count in the night sky, hung in the air, encircling the Order as they rose through the clouds.

“ _Avarda Kedavra!_ ”

The sky lit up with a blaze of green. Daikoku dove to the left and Yato found himself clinging for dear life, his feet dangling uselessly as they scrabbled for a footing as the sky rolled and his stomach roiled. Screams came from all sides, all direction lost as they spiralled around and around through a trail of blue and green and red sparks that whizzed past their ears.

The broom uprighted itself and before Yato could breathe, Daikoku had darted out of the mass and soared downwards. Yato whipped his head back to the battle, seeing the sparks of green and distant shapes of brooms and Thestrals diving in the other direction.

“We’ve got to go back!” Yato yelled. His throat dried instantly in the chilled air, but he could just about hear Daikoku above the roaring in his ears.

“My job is to get you away,” Daikoku shouted. “This was the agreement!”

“No!” Yato shouted. “We have to help them!”

Daikoku ignored Yato’s pleas and levelled out the broom, going faster than Yato had ever dared on the Quidditch field until the city lights died beneath them and they were left with the roar of the wind in their ears.

Yato felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, and his eyes instinctively darted to the right. Four figures were careening at them, their wands spitting deadly spells.

Daikoku swerved and soared upwards once again. The clouds broke around them and the black figures followed suit, tight on their tail.

Yato clenched his fist in Daikoku’s shirt and wriggled his hand into his pocket, begging that he wouldn’t drop his wand and he pulled it from his pocket and aimed.

“ _Stupefy!_ ”

Somehow – a miracle or pure luck – the spell hit its mark and left a hole in the Deatheater's offense. Yato aimed again and missed, the red sparks disintegrating into the blackness as the three remaining shadows gained on them.

Sparks flew past Yato’s face and he realised Daikoku was trying to shoot and fly at the same time. Yato doubled his efforts, and a combination of their spells hit a second Deatheater in the chest. He fell from his broom, plummeting to the ground with a shriek. One Deatheaters slowed to save him, but the other was still hot on their trail.

“ _Expelliarmus!_ ” Yato shouted, his voice snatched by the wind as the sparks shot through his wand.

The spell missed, but a call rose from the Deatheater in response.

“It’s him! it’s the real one!”

Yato felt his heart hammer in his chest, but then the Deatheater peeled away and disappeared from view. Daikoku turned his head, wand still in hand though he had a vice grip on the broom.

“Where’d they go?” Daikoku shouted.

“I don’t know!” Yato shouted back.

His hair whipped around his face as he looked around the blank starless sky. Fear crept into his chest. How could the Deatheater have known he was the real Yato? And why would he suddenly stop giving chase if he knew that?

Maybe they were gathering more Deatheaters, or relaying who he was with – surely there would be more on the way?

“We’re nearly there!” Daikoku shouted over his shoulder.

Yato felt the broom drop a little, each judder making his stomach lurch. Then his head split open in an ear-splitting screech of static. Yato drooped forward against Daikoku’s back, vision swimming as two Killing Curses narrowly missed them, sent from –.

Yato saw him.

The Sorcerer flew alongside them like a leaf on water with no broom nor Thestral to carry him, his black robes billowing around him. His eyes gleamed like a snake with a mouse, his hair tousled in the wind and a poisonous smile crept onto his face. His hand rose a wand, twisted and malformed oak with a cracked tip.

“ _Yaboku…_ ”

Daikoku let out a roar and the broom nosedived to the ground. Whatever curse that had been uttered missed them by millimeters, and a shriek came from above them. Daikoku fought to keep the broom from spiralling out of control, sparks of green and red showering them as curses and stunning spells rose up from Deatheater and Order alike. There was a distant scream and a wail that faded into silence as Daikoku fled towards the safety of the dark fields below.

The distant lights of the village grew from the size of fireflies to orbs of light that guided the way home. It was peacefully silent compared to the raging battle above the clouds, eerie and foreboding as they glided across the meadows to the outskirts of civilisation.

Yato’s legs turned to jelly as the broom disappeared from underneath him. he fell to his knees, the static fading from his head but leaving a thumping headache that pounded his temples and sickness in his stomach.

Daikoku took Yato by the elbow, urging him to stand walk. Daikoku kept looking over his shoulder at the sky, wand in hand as if he expected the Sorcerer himself to descend from the night and finish the job.

Yato lifted his gaze from the muddy earth that squelched beneath his feet. Ahead of him was a house, towering in mismatched panels and chimneys that could barely be seen in the nighttime. There were few lights on inside, but as they approached the door of the house flew open.

A Yato stood with their wand raised, but on seeing Daikoku and Yato they lowered it and threw themselves into Daikoku’s arms. In the window Yato could see Professor Takemikazuchi watching, arms crossed across his chest.

By the time his eyes had slid back to Daikoku and the Yato, the Polyjuice Potion had worn off and revealed a distressed Madame Kofuku. Daikoku kept her encircled in his arms, whispering something into the top of her pink curls as his hand stroked her back.

“They got a few of us, but I don’t know who,” Madame Kofuku was saying. “We’re the only ones here.”

Yato looked away, feeling the guilt grow inside his chest. _They were the only ones here._

Madame Kofuku finally tore her eyes from Daikoku and found Yato. She unfolded herself from the embrace and took in Yato, looking up at his face cupped in her hands.

“They’ll be here soon, don’t you worry,” Madame Kofuku said.

Yato could tell from her tone that she didn’t believe her own words, and it only made him feel worse as she led him inside.

Yato couldn’t help but be taken aback at the sheer size of the house. Stairs led up to one of the multiple floors of the house, and the inside was just as messy as a Potions classroom. The front room on the right-hand side was a mismatch of armchairs and tables and trinkets that filled every surface. Rugs and pillows had been strewn around in a homely yet cluttered manner, so different from Madame Kofuku’s office at Hogwarts.

The Burrow was not an underground fortress, nor a secret network of tunnels dug by those seeking refuge from the predators that walked overhead. It was a home.

Yato was led into the left room – the kitchen – which looked as if a bomb had exploded recently. A stack of dishes was being washed by a brush that had seen better days and the table was filled with all manner of paperwork and vials and teacups.

“Don’t go outside again,” Madame Kofuku warned. “If they see you when the potions have worn off then there’s no hiding you.”

She turned and made her way to the stove and began to fill the kettle, busying herself with making tea for their guests rather than worry if they had survived the trip. Somewhere in the house he could hear Daikoku moving about, coupled with the kitchen's wooden clock. It loudly ticked every second until Yato could feel the hammering of his heart as the minutes passed, tenser and tenser.

The silence was short-lived as an ethereal screech came outside. Madame Kofuku dropped the teacup she was holding, shattering on the floor.

“HELP ME!”

Yato’s heart flipped, recognising the voice. They sprinted outside, looking through the darkness for the source, wands drawn and spinning to find where the cry had come from. Yato saw a Thestral bolt across the field in a blind panic, riderless as its wings spread and took flight.

From the tall reeds behind the Burrow Bishamon appeared, weighed down by her partner who had taken Yato’s appearance. Although the Polyjuice Potion effects had only begun to fade, Yato knew who it was even without the glasses. Kazuma.

Kazuma’s brown hair was slick with blood, running down his neck and seeping underneath his torn collar. He was barely conscious as Bishamon wrapped her arm around his side and slung his arm over her shoulder, urging him to stay awake.

Yato rushed forwards, catching Kazuma as he stumbled over a rock and nearly took Bishamon to the ground. Something that sounded like a sob escaped Bishamon’s lips as Yato slapped Kazuma’s cheeks, shouting at him to focus on him.

“H-he got h-hit,” Bishamon stammered. Tears streamed down her face as she watched the blood pool around Kazuma’s ears and drip steadily onto her arm and caught in her tangled hair.

“Inside,” Madame Kofuku demanded. “Now!”

Yato put his arm around Kazuma’s back, supporting him as Daikoku arrived and took the weight off Bishamon. Half-carrying, half-dragging, they pulled Kazuma inside the house and set him down on the living room couch. Bishamon clung to his hand and placed a hand on the good side of his face, calling his name over and over.

Madame Kofuku had grabbed a towel from the kitchen and pressed it to Kazuma’s head, trying to staunch the bleeding before rushing to get clean water and bandages. Yato leaned over them worriedly, watching Kazuma fight for consciousness.

A bang and a flash of light came from outside again and Daikoku was already up in arms, storming towards to door to see if friend or foe had tracked them down. A moment later a few nameless Order members emerged into the house, some injured, others not, directed upstairs to tend to their injuries. It seemed, so far, Kazuma was the most serious casualty of the night.

Madame Kofuku ran back into the room with bandages draped over her arm, a punch clenched in her teeth, and a bowl of hot water in her hands. She knelt down and brushed Kazuma’s hair from his eyes and they fluttered lucidly.

“Stay with us there, Kazuma,” Madame Kofuku soothed. “You’re going to be fine.”

Madame Kofuku dropped the pouch into Bishamon’s hands and instructed her to feed him the contents, a remedy to ease his pain whilst they worked. Yato tore his eyes away from the deepening crimson colour the water was taking as they worked on Kazuma, and stood by the window. He could see Daikoku outside, wand by his side as he scanned the moving clouds for life.

Yato felt his nerves jitter. Hiyori and Yukine were not here. They were the last ones, and a coiling knot of worry had already gnawed a hole in his stomach. He tried not to think about the ambush, the curses, and the green sparks that showed that the Deatheater’s intended to kill all of them, decoy or not. He tried not to think about the Sorcerer, appearing to him for the first time since that night in the graveyard, and the familiarity in those eyes…

There was a shout from outside and Yato’s mind snapped back to the present. He could see Daikoku jogging across the field, and in the distance two shapes hobbling towards him. The Polyjuice potion effects had completely worn off now, and he could see Hiyori and Yukine. Daikoku seemed to be helping Yukine hobble back towards the Burrow.

Yato rushed out of the living room and out the front door against his better judgement and the warning he’d been given. He drew his wand as a compromise as he darted across the short distance to the three of them as they made their way back. Daikoku had Yukine by the arm, his foot seemingly injured but not too badly, and Hiyori was trotting beside him with her wand drawn.

“Yato, get back inside -,” Daikoku started, but the instruction fell on deaf ears.

Yato closed the gap and pulled Hiyori and Yukine into a suffocating hug. He held them tight, eyes closed, and thanked Merlin that they were alive. They stood like that for the briefest of moments before Yato found his voice again.

“What happened?” Yato asked.

“Crash landing,” Hiyori said against his shoulder. “Broom split in two and we got thrown off.”

“Well, you had a soft landing at least,” Yukine grumbled, shifting his weight between his feet. Hiyori's laugh was stifled against Yato’s jacket, but she apologised for her landing skills.

Daikoku cleared his throat and Yato let go. Their faces were pinched red but awash with relief, and Yato felt his heart rate begin to slow. They were here. They were alive.

The four of them made their way back to the Burrow, casting looks back at the sky as the clouds darkened in the distance.

~

Yato lay awake staring at the ceiling. He, Hiyori and Yukine had taken a room for themselves, but there was only a bunk bed. Yukine took the top bunk and Hiyori the bottom, leaving Yato to lie on the floor, hands folded over his stomach and thin sheet.

He’d told them everything that had happened: the Deatheater knowing who he was, the Sorcerer attempting to kill him, Kazuma’s injury which, according to Madame Kofuku, would heal with a salve and potion.

The thought of what had happened and how close they had come to death kept Yato awake for hours. He knew sleep wouldn’t come, not tonight.

Yato gently pushed the sheets away and stood, wincing at every creak in the floorboards as he slipped out of the room and walked down the stairs. Some of the Order had left, but they would be back for the wedding in a few days, but Yato could hear gentle snores coming from the living room.

Yato quietly paced to the living room door to check on Kazuma’s condition. He made a mental note to apologise for allowing him to take such a stupid, dangerous risk. One that nearly cost his life. The door cracked open slightly but Yato paused.

Still asleep, Kazuma was lying on the couch with his head turned to the side, showing the bandages covering his injury. His glasses were nowhere in sight, leaving his face looking more boyish rather than the older Prefect look he had always sported. However, the thing that stopped Yato in his tracks was Bishamon asleep beside him.

She was still sitting on the floor, but her body slumped over so her head lay on his lap, her hand brought up to entwine their fingers together. Her hair was mussed up slightly, both from the night’s events and sleep. She had obviously been claimed by exhaustion too as the creak of door hinges didn’t stir her attention, nor did she move from Kazuma’s side.

Yato smiled slightly, and gently closed the door.

**Author's Note:**

> Of course I needed to cameo the Burrow! The chaos suits Kofuku perfectly.  
> Once again a few things that are very old in the making: Kazuma getting his ear fucked up and Bishamon panicking, the Kazubisha sleep scene. I'm just sat over here getting to my notes going 'oh yeah it's all coming together'.  
> I'm happy I picked this AU up again cos I always wanted to finish it and post-uni lockdown was the perfect opportunity to force myself back into it.  
> Saying that, I do arc summaries but I've been useless at keeping track. I'll be putting up the OOTP and HBP ones by next week hopefully.  
> I've got a few chapters ready to go now so regular updates as usual, the chapters will start getting longer soon so I'm trying to keep enough updates ready to go.


End file.
